Monday, October 5, 2009

In the depths.....

....of my sewing machine. This is EXACTLY why I refuse to invest in nice machinery......I run things into the ground. I broke a needle today and I think it bent the entire column of my machine. At the same time the bobbin guts jumped out. At the time, I was sewing at full speed through an ungodly amount of fabric, with the wrong needle, and some black thread from the 1960s because I ran out. Now my needle seems to be off about 0.1mm and will not catch the bobbin thread anymore.


Since I couldn't physically crawl down into the machine to see what else I destroyed in the process I used my small cybershot camera to peer down into the guts. I love machinery.....so I thought the photos were sort of cool, even though they didn't help locate the problem.




Way too much thread lint.....



Have you seen this cool animation yet on how a sewing machine works?

Maybe my new sewing machine will get here before I have to figure out what is wrong with this one. Thanks so much to everyone that voted for my projects on Instructables! I didn't win the serger (I think I lost to an amoeba!) but I did win a sewing machine (almost the exact machine I have!) for the beanbags....and just in time it seems.


29 comments:

  1. That is a cool animation!

    Neat-looking sewing machine pictures too!

    What kind of sewing machine did you win?

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  2. Looks like fun! I love taking things apart and fixing them. Luckily my uncle is a sewing machine repair man, how lucky am I?

    If you get a chance, I just posted my first tutorial: http://noodleheads.blogspot.com/2009/10/zippy-wallet-tutorial.html

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  3. this are cool pictures!

    good luck figuring out what is wrong...if not, enjoy you new machine!!!

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  4. That's why I keep a can of air beside my machine. Blow all of that lint out. Have fun with your new machine!

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  5. I second Kim - keep a compressed air can nearby! It saves SO much time and repair costs :)

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  6. I'm the same way...my plain jane, $150 machine does just fine. It's only a matter of time before I do something to it. lol

    Congrats on winning! What kind of machine is it?

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  7. Ha ha! Oh no! I am hard on my little $60 Kmart machine too. That is A LOT of lint. Holy Cow!

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  8. Haha! This sounds like me, I never change my needle, I'm so abusive to my machine!
    P.S. Thanks for the link to that little video, I've always wondered how it catches the bobbin thread!!

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  9. OK, girl...they make these cool tools that are made so that you can clean your machine and remove all those dust bunnies!

    Congrats on winning a new machine!

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  10. I was talking to the sewing machine man a while back and laughing about people coming in asking for replacement felt pads for their bobbin! I'm guilty of not cleaning out my bobbin area often enough - too busy wanting to sew.

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  11. Isn't it funny how the Universe works - just when your sewing machine breaks a brand new one appears... Enjoy it!

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  12. Awesome!! congrats on winning the sewing machine!!

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  13. I just stopped in to take a look at your blog and say Hi after I saw that you left a comment on my daughter's blog, Emily of Super Stitches at www.sewingsister.blogspot.com

    You have a great blog. I went all through it.

    Trudy
    www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com

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  14. ouch.

    gee I thought i was the only one with self-created sewing problems.

    how lucky (unlucky) to have a break-down just as you win a new machine!
    cool pics, i'm off to check out the tutorial, thanks

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  15. ..i mean animation...COOL! the comments that followed, also entertaining :-)

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  16. Sad...but Happy that you'll be getting a new machine!

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  17. Hi Ashley, I had a look at your blog and I love the things you make!!! :)
    Can I insert a link to your blog into mine?

    robygiup.splinder.com

    If you want to have a look into my blog, you're welcome... but it is in Italian... I'm sorry...

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  18. Wow~I'll be taking a look at mine today ;-) So glad someone knew you would be needing a new machine soon, funny how things work out.

    Neat way to capture all of that...

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  19. So glad that you won at sewing machine, just in the nick of time! What would we do if you didn't sew????? LOL

    I have a serger, but I haven't felt comfortable enough to use it yet...maybe soon.

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  20. I had to laugh at all of your thread lint. I'm pretty sure my machine would look similar if I had the nerve to look. It's nice to know I am in good company.

    Congrats on winning the new machine!

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  21. This made me laugh so much - I am SUPER obsessive about my bobbin housing getting filled with lint, so I keep a can of compressed air near my sewing table at all times! It blasts all that gunk right outta there. It's especially handy after I get done sewing with fleece or corduroy...or minky (shudder). But my machine - although barely a year old - is kind of finicky, and the feed dogs won't really feed the fabric properly if it gets too clogged with lint. :/

    Congrats on winning a new machine! That's so exciting!

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  22. this happened to me too!
    my dad fixed it though.
    it has to do with the belt - the timing belt needed to be turned a little to make the bobbin move a little faster for the thread would catch it. maybe it's still fix-able!!

    good luck :)

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  23. O-M-G! Holy Lint Batman!!!
    Congrats on the win -- the bean bags are sure cute, and a great gift! Haven't made them yet, but definitely on my list!
    On a sewing note, I always keep a smaller soft paint brush next to my machine and clean out all the lint-bunnies from my bobbin at the start of every new project! Can't wait to hear about the new machine!! CHEERS!

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  24. Bummer about the broken machine, yay for the new machine! I'm a fan of compressed air too. Maybe keep it in mind for the new machine ;)

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  25. Bummer about the broken machine, yay for the new machine! I'm a fan of compressed air too. Maybe keep it in mind for the new machine ;)

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  26. No lie, the same thing happened to me, somehow I fixed it but thought what the hell, I can't make it any worse right? My bobbin holder looked like that last night, I had never noticed it before and blew it out....P.S. I thought you'd like:
    http://ilikethewayyoudo.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-dress-for-milla.html

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  27. Noooooooo D:
    I tried clicking on the animation but it doesn't work. I've been looking for something like that for ages!

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